Sliders for toroidal coil winding machines



April 27, 1965 H. v. DoRN ETAL 3,180,583

SLIDERS FOR TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINES Filed March 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 27 1965 H. v. DoRN ETAL SLIDERS FOR TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 20, 1963 3,180,583 SLIDERS FOR TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHlNES Henry V. Dorn, Denville, and Milton Rowan, Elizabeth,

NJ., assignors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New 'York Filed Mar. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 266,686 3 Claims. (Cl. 242 4) This invention relates to sliders for toroidal coil winding imachines, particularly sliders of the wire tension control type.

In toroidal coil winding machines, annular shuttles preloaded with wire to be wound on toroidal cores are provided with sliders mounted thereon which are movable on tracks in the shuttles for guiding the wires on to the cores during the winding operation. In machines of this type, there have been problems in controlling tension on the wires as they are being guided by the sliders moving with and relative to the shuttles to wind uniform lays of wire on the toroidal cores. s

An object of the present invention is to provide a slider for a toroidal coil winding machine which is highly etlicient in controlling the tension of wires of various sizes being wound about toroidal cores.

In accordance with the object, the invention comprises a shuttle for a toroidal coil winding machine having an annular track with a slider assembly mounted on the track. The slider assembly includes a wire guide, a follOwing element, and resilient means for connecting the wire guide to the following element in one of a plurality of positions for imparting forces of varying magnitudes to the wire guide in order to control the tension on the wire being wound by changing the frictional engagement of the wire guide with the track.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from y the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of portions of a toroidal coil winding machine illustrating the slider;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4 4 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the structure shown in FIG. l illustrating with arrows the direction of movements of certain parts.

The toroidal coil winding machine selected to illustrate the invention includes an annular shuttle of the crosssectional contour shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shuttle having a removable segment 11 whereby the shuttle may be opened to permit the removal of a wound core 12 from its clamp 14 and the insertion of a new core therein in a conventional manner. After the new core is mounted in the clamp 14, a supply of wire 15 is Wound on shuttle 10 by attaching one end of the wire to the shuttle and then rotating drive gear 1'6 until the supply of wire is completely taken up on the shuttle. Drive gear 16 is mounted on a drive shaft 17 and inter-engages ring gear teeth 18 on the inner periphery of the shuttle 10. The shuttle 10 is supported on grooved rollers 19, which receive a first lip 20 on the periphery of shuttle 19. Shuttle 10 also includes a second lip 21 on the outer periphery thereof which in conjunction with an annular groove 22 and a third lip 23, disposed at the inner periphery of the shuttle, provides an annular track 24 which forms a continuous support for a slider assembly indicated generally at 25.

The slider assembly 25 includes a wire guide 26 formed to ride on the track 24, a follower 27 also formed to ride United States Patent C) measles Patented Apr. 27, 1965 ice on the track and a connecting element 28 therebetween. The wire guide 26 has grooves 29 therein through which the wire 15 is fed from the shuttle 10 to the core 12. Both guide 25 and follower 27 have arcuate longitudinal contours that are similar to the contour of shuttle 10, so that there would be a minimum of frictional drag therebetween if the guide and follower were allowed to slide independently of each other on track 24.

The connecting element 28 is provided with a plurality of pockets 3ft formed by an undulated path in a portion of the element, the pockets being operable to selectively receive a locating member 31, which is integral with the follower 27. Prior to the connection of the follower 27 with the element 28, the element in general is disposed perpendicularly to surface 32 of the guide 26. Furthermore, the connecting element 28 is formed of a suitable material, such as spring steel, which has a predetermined degree of resiliency to create variable forces tending to twist the guide 26 from its natural path on the track with a force that is dependent upon the pocket 30 in which the member 31 is disposed to vary the frictional drag of the guide 26 on the track of the shuttle.

peration In winding wire coils on toroidal cores such as the core 12, the tension on each wire depends largely upon the size of the wire being wound and when the same machine is utilized to wind coils of various types with wires of various sizes, it is important that the slider assembly 25 be readily adapted to vary the tensions on the wires. Although only four positions have been shown for connecting the follower 27 through pockets 30 with the connecting element 28, it is apparent that element 28 may be equipped with a large number of pockets, providing for a large number of variable connections. This will enable an operator to choose from a wide range of frictional engagements between guide 26 of slider assembly 25 and track 24 of shuttle 1t). The lightest tension will be created by locating the follower in the outermost pocket away from the guide 26. As the follower 27 is moved closer to the guide 26 by selecting a pocket closer thereto, the connecting element between the follower 27 and the guide 26 becomes stiffer and causes stronger twisting on the guide 26 to increase its frictional engagement with the track. This will result in a greater force being required on the wire 15 to remove it from the shuttle and wind it on the core. The slider assembly, therefore, with its three members, the guide 26, the follower 27 and the connecting element 28 provides a variable tension control for the Wire 15 regardless of the size of the wire being wound on the core. With member 31 located as shown in FIG. l at the center of the follower, there will be no twisting action on the follower 27. There is, however, a force applied to the follower through the connecting element which varies the frictional engagement of the inner portion of the follower with the inner periphery or lip 23 of the track 24. This, coupled with the twisting action applied to the guide 26, assists in creating varying tensions on the wire 15 depending on the connection between the follower 27 and the connecting member 28.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toroidal coil winding machine having a shuttle adapted to be loaded with wire and driven about its axis through a toroidal core, the shuttle having a circular track on one side thereof, a sliding assembly for controlling the wire tension comprising:

track in engagement with said resilient elements and l operable to flex the resilient element for controlling the rictional engagement between the wire guide and the track,

a connecting member mounted on said follower, and a plurality of spaced recesses in the resilient element operable to selectively receive said connecting member so as to enable, by selection of recesses, the choice of varying degrees of flexing of said resilient element, resulting in varying braking forces on the guide by varying the frictional engagement of the guide with the track.

2. In a toroidal coil winding machine which includes a shuttle having annular track on one side thereof, and a slider assembly mounted on said track for controlling the tension of a wire being payed off said shuttle and wound about a core, which slider assembly comprises:

a wire'guide mounted to freely slide along said annu- Y lar track, a following element mounted to freely slide along said annular track,

a separate resilient means extending between said wire guide and following element and biased to urge said wire guide and following element against said annular track, and

means selectively connecting said resilient means to said wire guide and following element to selectively interconnect said wire guide and said following element at predetermined spaced apart positions along said annular track for selectively imparting different predetermined frictional drags to said wire guide and the following element against said track.

3. A toroidal coil winding machine according to claim 2 wherein: A Y

the connecting means comprises a wire having an undulated section, and Vmeans for selectively engaging dilerent portions of the undulated section.

Heren-reces Cited by the Enaminer MERVIN STETN, Primary Examiner. 

2. IN A TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE WHICH INCLUDES A SHUTTLE HAVING ANNULAR TRACK ON ONE SIDE THEREOF, AND A SLIDER ASSEMBLY MOUNTED ON SAID TRACK OF CONTROLLING THE TENSION OF A WIRE BEING PAYED OFF SAID SHUTTLE AND WOUND ABOUT A CORE, WHICH SLIDER ASSEMBLY COMPRISES; A WIRE GUIDE MOUNTED TO FREELY SLIDE ALONG SAID ANNULAR TRACK, A FOLLOWING ELEMENT MOUNTED TO FREELY SLIDE ALONG SAID ANNULAR TRACK, A SEPARATE RESILIENT MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID WIRE GUIDE AND FOLLOWING ELEMENT AND BIASED TO URGE SAID WIRE GUIDE AND FOLLOWING ELEMENT AGAINST SAID ANNULAR TRACK, AND MEANS SELECTIVELY CONNECTING SAID RESILIENT MEANS TO SAID WIRE GUIDE AND FOLLOWING ELEMENT TO SELECTIVELY INTERCONNECT SAID WIRE GUIDE AND SAID FOLLOWING ELEMENT AT PREDETERMINED SPACED APART POSITIONS ALONG SAID ANNULAR TRACK FOR SELECTIVELY IMPARTING DIFFERENT PREDETERMINED FRICTIONAL DRAGS TO SAID WIRE GUIDE AND THE FOLLOWING ELEMENT AGAINST SAID TRACK. 